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Help selecting free av online

Hi,
Im looking for someone to help guide me with free av's offered online.
Where is the best and safest place to go for downloading an anti-virus? I currently use norton security suite which is offered thru comcast and Im very unhappy, I feel so vulnerable, not very safe and uses way too many resources.

Also, is it best to first remove my currently installed anti virus and then download and install the new av?
What other protection, anti malware, anti virus ect would be best for me to use in combination?
Im not a gamer nor do I use my compaq pressario f700 for much other than web browsing, facebook, c-list. email and general microsoft word and publisher tasks.

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Hi,Im looking for someone to help guide me with free av's offered online.Where is the best and safest place to go for downloading an anti-virus? I currently use norton security suite which is offered thru comcast and Im very unhappy, I feel so vulnerable, not very safe and uses way too many resources.

Also, is it best to first remove my currently installed anti virus and then download and install the new av?What other protection, anti malware, anti virus ect would be best for me to use in combination?Im not a gamer nor do I use my compaq pressario f700 for much other than web browsing, facebook, c-list. email and general microsoft word and publisher tasks.

Hello and welcome. You can safely dowmload from our list and save one of these to the desktop. •Avira Antivir

I would then add •Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and •SuperAntiSpyware as on demand scanners. Eun once a weekFinally you can include •Spywareblaster These three also in the list should be updated weekly.

What is your operating system and firewall?

How do I get help? Who is helping me?For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear....Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook

The 2 gentlemen who responded I truley appreciate the prompt reply and very helpful information, THX!
I had win7 installed about year ago (however, i suspect it may have been a pirated version) seems to do okey given my basic use of it, and I use windows firewall.
I assumed norton automatically controlled firewall, but I did open control panel>system security> windows firewall and shows as being on.

Also, is it best to first remove my currently installed anti virus and then download and install the new av?

Before removing your existing anti-virus, you should download and save the setup file for the anti-virus you are going to replace it with. Also download any specialized removal tools available for your current anti-virus in case you need them. If is not uncommon for some anti-virus programs to not completely uninstall itself using the usual method of Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features in Vista/Windows 7. In many cases anti-virus vendors provide clean-up utilities on their web sites to remove remnants left behind after unintalling or for a failed uninstall. Alternatively, you can try using OPSWAT's AppRemover - supported applications list.

After doing that, disconnect from the Internet, uninstall your current anti-virus, reboot and then install the replacement. Reboot again to ensure it is working properly before reconnecting to the Internet.

Thank you for taking the time to help. The links where loaded with great information.
I have installed the software programs you mentioned and am pleased at how easy the are to use.

One thing I should of mentioned, I also do plenty of online banking and shopping with Amazon. Is the av (Avira) along with the other software you recommended enough protection? Internet security software seems to have too many applications. I use IE9, should be ok?

As noted in the topic Animal referred you to, no amount of security software is going to defend against today's sophisticated malware writers for those who do not practice safe computing principles and stay informed. That requires reading security web sites to keep up with the latest techniques used by attackers to spread malware and infect computers.

For online banking I recommend you use strong passwords and change them often. Also be careful how you respond to any emails sent by financial institutions....they may be Phishing or Pharmingscams designed to steal your personal information.

The scam works by criminals posing as computer security engineers and calling people at home to tell them they are at risk of a computer security threat. The scammers tell their victims they are providing free security checks and add authenticity by claiming to represent legitimate companies and using telephone directories to refer to their victims by name.

Once they have tricked their victims into believing they have a problem and that the caller can help, the scammers are believed to run through a range of deception techniques designed to steal money.